Okasame Dinner City Tour

Last night Drew and I had a Stu inspired Okasame sushi dinner! Basically, we just say "make us something good," and the chef goes to town. It was 7 courses and absolutely fantastic. Drew took photos of the dishes on his iphone, so we will be able to post them once back in the states. The best courses were an amazing oyster that melted in your mouth, tuna belly, and tuna neck which had this incredible sauce. Delicias.

Today, Drew had to work, so I took a tour of the city on a double decker tour bus. I could hop on and off as I wished all day, and it only costed $8. First stop was St. John's Cathedral, which was actually an Angelican Church. Had no idea until I saw a pamphlet. Is there a distinguishing decor difference between Catholic and Angelican Churches, because this Church looked Catholic to me...

Second stop was the Zoological and Botanical gardens in Hong Kong park. The zoological part included an aviary with the most beautiful birds including 5 different types of cranes. And some cool looking pheasants, which I thought Brian would appreciate.  

In addition to the aviary, the garden also had monkeys! Including an orangutan. And in one pen there was a mom with her new baby. Super cute. And the white and black one is Leah taking a nap...

The botanical gardens were less impressive than the zoological gardens. Mostly just more orchids. But there was one of the pretty trees, the same ones they were selling at the New Years Fair, so I thought I'd show you what I was talking about. These trees are similar in status to our Christmas trees. You see them everywhere.

Next stop was the harbor front where you can catch a ferry to many of the local islands. We will definitely have to do this on a weekend adventure. It also provided great views of Kowloon (across the waterway from Hong Kong) and the city itself (photo). The turtle looking building is the city's convention center.

Next stop was the Man Mo Temple. It wasn't very big, and, as a single story building, it looks funny squashed between sky scrapers. Inside so much incense was burning my eyes started to water. Everyone who was praying would light 5 sticks at a time. This particular temple was to worship the god of literature Man Tai and the god of war Mo Tai. I thought those were funny gods to pair together. There were way more than just two statues in the temple, so I also think there were more than just two gods being worshiped there. Everyone inside was very serious. There were tons of incense coils burning from the ceiling, and people would strick a gong or drum occasionally. Pretty cool.

Throughout this tour bus experience, I learned a few things. 1) A bus will only stop for you if you wave enthusiastically at it. Standing politely in front of the bus stop sign is not sufficient. 2) Sour and spicy Cambodian noodles at a Pho restaurant are insanely hot, and I thought my spice tolerance was high. Eyes watered for the second time today. 3) I am not the only blonde this side of the Pacific Ocean. All of the other expats live in Soho, a very stylish neighborhood with Italian pizzerias and art galleries. There was noticeably less Chinese in this neighborhood. 4) Don't try to outsmart the bus and beat it to the next stop because you were late to the previous one. It seems like a good idea until you fail and have to wait just as long at that stop as you would have at the original one after rushing around like a crazy person.

I also went to the University of Hong Kong which was surprisingly small and didn't have anything that resembled a main quad. I guess the later should not have been surprising. I also noted the location of several outdoor markets. I didn't really have time today to really shop, so that will be tomorrow's adventure. It will be very easy to return to the markets using the MTR, or subway. These subways have airconditioning and are spotlessly clean, so a very nice ride. That's it for the city tour. Dinner soon, then drinks with Drew's old coworker Pavel from Russia.

Cheers.

Flower Market

Apartment Found

We found a place to live after a day and a half of searching. The link below is basically where we will be staying. The building is the same, but it's a different unit. The view from the apartment is similar to the first picture in this link. http://www.squarefoot.com.hk/property/10018598 

It is a 4-bedroom (the bedrooms are very small) 2-bath place on the 48th floor. It is located in Jardine's Lookout, which is a quieter neighborhood in Hong Kong, which Trig will hopefully appreciate. It's a 15 min walk for Drew to work, and is close to Victoria Park. Apparently not a single park in Hong Kong allows dogs. Completely opposite from the U.S. where parks are overrun by them. Apparently a lot of people here are scared of dogs and think they're messy, therefore, no dogs allowed. So Trig is going to have to get used to peeing on cement. On the south side of the island, like in Aberdeen, there is more room for them. 

I need some advice on how dogs best function in apartments. Should I expect to be running up and down the elevator with him 5 times a day? Or should we pee pad train him? 

A few things were very interesting while we were looking at all of these apartments. 1) None of them had dishwashers, :( but they had wine chillers 2) None had closets, and some had built in wardrobes. Some had absolutely no storage space whatsoever. Where do people hang up their clothes you might be asking? The answer is on their terraces. Seems to be common practice. Luckily, the place we found has a lot of built-ins, so storage shouldn't be a problem. 3) All the apartments had maids rooms. Aka a closet with a disgusting, small bathroom. I can't believe Hong Kongers allow their maids (which are mostly Filipino) to live in such small spaces. The rooms were about 5ft x 4ft. Makes me sad. Our maids bathroom will be Trig's shower room and pee pad room if we decide to train him so. And we'll probably use the maids bedroom for bike storage. 

The before mentioned walk to Victoria Park was also interesting. They were having a fair there to sell things for the Chinese New Year coming up. One half of the fair was kids' toys, mostly stuffed animals, balloons, pinwheels, and more junk. I've decided the Asian cartoons with bright block colors and perfectly round faces freak me out. If you've read Cloud Atlas, you know what I mean. The second half of the fair was all flowers. But the funny thing was, all 50 of the booths were selling exactly the same stuff. 1) Kumquat trees (made me think of you Megan!), purple orchids, daffodils,  and these pink flowered trees. Every store in the city seems to have some combination of these flowers and trees in the building. Apparently the kumquat trees make you lucky. But why do you need 50 booths all selling the same stuff? Don't they understand economics? I'm going to set up a booth and sell roses. But, I probably wouldn't sell a single one, because they aren't lucky. 

Today, Drew and I are talking to a few Hong Kong based pet relocation companies. Hopefully one of them will be experts on the topic. Then, Drew works all day Thurs and Fri, so I will probably do more site seeing. Maybe take a bus tour around the city. 

Pictures

The trip and initial reaction

We made it safely to Hong Kong! The trip entailed a 2 hour flight to O'Hare in Chicago, a four hour layover, and then a fifteen hour flight to Hong Kong. We actually flew over the north pole! Luckily, Drew's company is very giving, and we got to fly Business class on the international flight. The best part is that the seat fully reclines, so it feels like you are sleeping on a couch. While Drew falls asleep instantaneously on all flights, I can never really sleep in the normal airplane seats, so being to lie down flat was a huge advantage. Thanks, Drew's work. We slept for the first 5 or 6 hours, then had to stay awake for the remainder of the flight, as we arrive in Hong Kong time a day ahead and at 8pm. The idea is in order to get on Hong Kong time, you have to be tired enough to fall asleep that first night (thanks for the tip Dad), which, luckily, we were able to. Overall, it was a surprisingly easy time. No major flight delays, didn't lose luggage, could communicate with taxi driver to get us to the right hotel, and was able to fall asleep the most crucial first night.

My first reaction when we drove into the city was: "Man, this place is big." It seems like everywhere you look there is a taller building, if that's possible. Lots of neon lights. And lots of commercialism. That made me balk a bit. I'm not a shopper, but everywhere I look, all there are are stores. Not the unique street markets, but stores you'd see in any other big city. What am I really going to do here? But, I think once we get off this main strip and into the more eclectic parts of town, the atmosphere will be a bit more cultural, and that's what I am really excited about.

The hotel is very nice. The picture posted is our room, with a cool glass walled shower that connects the bedroom with the bathroom. The first thing I wondered though; yeah this setup is ok for a couple, but what if you were staying here with a family? I doubt a teenage girl would be ok showering in front of her whole family. Weird. Maybe the setup is different for rooms with double beds.

The other picture is the view from our hotel room. Cloudy skies today, but it's supposed to clear up towards the end of the week.

Drew and I went and had "breakfast" before he went off to work for the morning. First of all, neither of us brought a map. Don't you have a map? I thought you had the map? And Drew says, let's just walk. WHAT?!? Yes, his work is only three blocks away, but the roads here are not straight, and I can manage to get lost quite easily. Somehow, we survive, but never again will I make that mistake. Time for breakfast.  Imagine a bowl of macaroni or ramen noodles in wonton soup broth, with a fried egg and "sausage" aka a hot dog. Literally. And a cup of tea with milk that was almost a chai, but a bit more bitter. The only thing about my meal that was breakfasty was the fried egg. But despite the non-breakfastyness of it, it still tasted good, which is really all that matters. Also, the cafe we went into was packed, so they sat multiple groups at the same table. Four people in a booth who don't know each other. Other than at hippy places, would Americans ever do that? Also saw 3 dogs on the walk. A Pekingese, a bull dog, and a Pomeranian. Yes, they were all small dogs, but Trig won't be alone!

Finally, I noticed that 1) I am the only blonde this side of the Pacific Ocean and 2) I am the only person wearing flip flops (I'm not sure if this is because it is "winter time" here, meaning it is 70 degrees instead of 85, or if it's actually inappropriate to wear open toed shoes).

While Drew is at work, I plan to go check out Victoria Park, the second largest park in the city. The goal is to see if it's dog friendly. Will meet up with Drew for lunch, then we will be apartment shopping all afternoon. Wish us luck on that front.